Classical & Contemporary French Vegan Pastry

Who This Program Is For

This eight-week intensive is ideal for:

• Professional pastry chefs who want to expand into vegan pastry
• Vegan chefs who want to deepen their pastry technique
• Culinary school graduates seeking a specialized professional skill
• Restaurant, hotel and boutique pastry professionals
• Entrepreneurs preparing to open a pastry shop, café, tea room, catering business or online pastry offer
• Teachers and consultants who want to improve their technical foundation
• Serious home bakers seeking a professional-level immersion

The program is particularly suited to students who want to create pastries that are not only “free from,” but truly excellent: elegant, structured, flavorful, beautiful and worthy of a professional pastry counter.

The 8-Week Journey

The program is structured progressively, moving from the foundations of pastry formulation to the most technical areas of French pastry.

Week 1 establishes the essential building blocks: creams, sauces, various ganaches, caramel, gelées and glazes. introduction to various tart doughs .

Week 2  focuses on applications of basics to create classical entremets and layered French desserts: sponge structures, mousses, inserts, creams, assembly and finishing. Fraisier, Opéra, Forêt Noire, Rolled cakes, Fruit Entremet

Week 3  gives students proficiency in the most familiar pastries of all French people : « travel cakes such as madeleines, financiers, cannelés, pound cake; various fine cookies often used as a part of plated desserts; the creamy desserts such as flan, clafoutis, far breton, tarte normande; as well as brioche and beignets - a sophisticated French doughnut

Week 4 is dedicated to one of the most challenging areas of vegan pastry: puff pastry, ( mille-feuilles and galettes des rois) and raised puff pastry, (croissants, bi-colored croisssant, pains au chocolat, pains aux raisins, Kuign aman and some modern variations)

Week Five is about pastries and desserts traditionally based on egg white which we will replace by aquafaba or potato protein: Meringue, Pavlova, Dacquoise, Lady’s fingers, Charlotte pastry and of course beautiful and imaginative macarons!

Week Six takes the student into the creation of sophisticated entremets, petit fours and advanced tarts. Students will be required, with assistance, to recreate some of the more contemporary versions of the classics!

Week Seven challenges students with the singularly most difficult pastry for vegan chefs - Choux Pastry. During this intensive week, we will make choux balls, profiterole, eclairs, Paris Brest pastries, the iconic Saint Honoré pastry and to finish a Choux tower

Week Eight is about chocolate ( buying it, tempering, use in desserts, bonbon making, nut pralines, fruit use in desserts such as apple tatins and a whole day on ice cream! Our last morning, we will visit a well-known chocolate factory and museum near the school.

By the end of the eight weeks, students will have developed a broad and coherent understanding of vegan French pastry, from everyday boutique pastries to more elaborate professional desserts.

All meals are includes

Lodging included.

Description

Classical and contemporary vegan French Pastry This eight-week professional intensive is dedicated to the art and science of vegan French pastry. It is designed for pastry chefs, vegan chefs, culinary professionals, entrepreneurs, teachers, and ambitious home bakers who want to master the foundations of French pâtisserie in a fully plant-based format.

French pastry is built on precision, texture, structure and balance. In this program, students learn how to recreate the great classics of French pastry without butter, milk, gelatin, cream or eggs — while preserving elegance, pleasure, technical discipline and professional presentation.

This is not a simple collection of adapted recipes. It is a complete technical training in vegan pastry: creams, sauces, tarts, entremets, laminated doughs, viennoiserie, petits fours, macarons and chocolate work.

Students will learn not only what to make, but why each recipe works: how to replace eggs intelligently, how to create stable creams and mousses, how to laminate doughs, how to balance starches and nut flours, how to manage moisture, how to obtain clean slices and professional finishes, and how to create desserts that are beautiful, delicious and commercially viable.

Program Positioning

A Rare Professional Training in Vegan French Pastry

This program brings together two highly sought-after skills:

• French pastry technique

The discipline, precision and elegance of classical pâtisserie.

Vegan pastry expertise

The ability to replace dairy, eggs, gelatin and traditional fats with plant-based alternatives while maintaining flavor, texture and structure.

Together, these skills form a rare and valuable expertise for today’s pastry professionals.

As more clients request desserts that are plant-based, professionals need serious training that goes far beyond substitution. This program teaches students to think like pastry formulators, not merely recipe followers.

WEEK 1 — Foundations: Creams, Sauces, Tarts & Textures

Building the Essential Language of Vegan Pastry

The first week is dedicated to the core preparations that appear throughout French pastry. Students learn how to make stable, flavorful and elegant creams and fillings without eggs, milk, cream or butter, and how to create egg and butter-free tart doughs that are crisp, tender, workable and professional.

This week is fundamental. Many failures in vegan pastry come from weak foundations: creams that are too starchy, tart shells that crumble, fillings that are unstable, textures that are heavy, or flavors that lack refinement. Week 1 teaches students how to build balance from the beginning.

Day 1 — Major Pastry Creams

Students begin with the essential creams of French pastry in gluten-free vegan form:

• Vanilla pastry cream
• Mousseline cream
• Diplomate cream
• Citrus curds
• Frangipane
• Chantilly-style cream

The focus is on texture, stability, mouthfeel and flavor. Students learn how to replace eggs without creating heaviness, how to avoid excessive starchiness, how to obtain a smooth and glossy finish, and how to adapt each cream for different uses: tarts, entremets, choux-style fillings, layered desserts and plated components.

Day 2 — Caramel, Dessert Sauces, Glazes and gelées & Decorations

This day explores sugars and caramel; the sauces and accompaniments that bring freshness, contrast and elegance to pastry:

• Fruit sauces
• Vanilla custard-style sauce
• Chocolate sauce
• Caramel sauce
• Caramel decorations
• Fruit gelées
• Piping practice

Students learn how to balance acidity, sweetness, thickness and shine. The day also introduces the role of sauces in professional presentation: not as afterthoughts, but as essential elements that complete a dessert.

Day 3 —Ganaches, Glazes & Inserts

• Vegan ganaches ( normal, thick, whipped, fruit and coffee flavored
• Glazes ( regular and mirror glazes)
• Chocolate decor
• Decorative Tuiles
• Inserts

Students learn how to create shine, clean slices, stable fillings and refined finishes. This day links the world of tarts to the world of entremets, preparing students for Week 2.

Day 4 — Tart Doughs, Shapes & First Fruit Tarts

Students learn the principles of tart dough formulation:

• Choosing and combining flours and other ingredients
• Balancing fat, moisture and structure
• Rolling and lining tart rings
• Preventing cracking, shrinking and crumbling
• Blind baking and finishing

The practical work includes fruit tarts, pastry cream tarts and citrus curd tarts. Students begin to understand how different fillings affect tart shell texture, moisture resistance and final presentation.

Day 5 — Fruit, Chocolate & Nut Tarts

This day builds on the previous work by exploring richer and more complex tart compositions:

• Seasonal fruit tarts
• Chocolate tarts
• Nut-based tarts
• Fruit and almond combinations
• Layered tart structures

Students learn how to combine textures: crisp shell, creamy filling, fruit freshness, chocolate intensity, nut richness and decorative finish. The emphasis is on creating tarts that are both elegant and commercially attractive.

By the End of Week 1, Students Will Understand

• How to create stable vegan pastry creams without eggs or dairy
• How to avoid heavy, gummy or overly starchy textures
• How to formulate tart doughs for professional use
• How to manage moisture between tart shells and fillings
• How to balance fruit, chocolate, nuts, acidity and sweetness
• How to create sauces, compotes and decorative elements
• How foundational preparations become the building blocks of advanced pastry

WEEK 2 — Classical Entremets

Structure, Layers, Mousses, Inserts & Professional Finishing

Week 2 is dedicated to the great French entremets and layered desserts. Students move from individual components to complete composed pastries, learning how to combine sponge cakes, creams, mousses, fruit inserts, glazes, ganaches, syrups, textures and finishes.

The goal is not simply to imitate classics, but to understand their architecture.

Day 1 —The most prominent cake base: Vegan Génoise

Génoise can be used in many ways depending on the thickness it is made into. It is a somewhat dry, fine-grained cake that holds up well when covered with creams and mousses that on a moister, larger-grained cake would make them disintegrate. We will make today three genoise: vanilla, chocolate and a marbled or striped one and will use one to make a personalized rolled cake - filled, glazed

Day 2 The Fraisier

Students begin by preparing all the ingredients for the Fraisier entremet which is a lovely creation of cake, strawberries, a diplomat cream, diced strawberries in a delicate syrup and a strawberry gelée .

These bases are then used to create a classic Fraisier entremet. Students learn how to build a dessert with clean layers, stable cream, fresh fruit, proper moisture control and an elegant finish.

Technical focus:

• Creating the perfect cake structure
• Managing softness and flexibility
• Syrup soaking without collapse
• Building clean layers
• Working with fruit and cream in a professional entremet
• Covering with a fruit gelée
• Decorating with various ingredients

Day 3 —

• — Black Forest Cake

The Black Forest cake introduces chocolate sponge, cherries, cream, syrup and decoration. Students learn how to adapt a generous classic into a vegan version that remains light, moist and balanced. We will do two versions - one classical and one as contemporary as your imagination and technique can achieve.

Technical focus:

• Chocolate sponge
• Vegan whipped cream/marscapone stability
• Cherry inserts and syrup balance
• Layering and masking
• Decorative chocolate work

Day 4 — The Traditional Opera Cake

Opera cake is one of the most technical French entremets because it depends on precision, thin layers and balance. Students prepare the traditional-style Opera cakes in vegan form, working with sponge, coffee, chocolate, cream and glaze.

Technical focus:

• Thin joconde-style layers
• Coffee syrup balance
• Vegan coffee buttercream-style fillings
• Dark chocolate ganache layers
• Glazing and cutting
• Professional finishing and portioning

Day 5 —Fruit-based French Entremets

The week concludes with the making of a very sophisticated and elaborate entremets, allowing students to apply the week’s techniques to one fruity masterpiece. Students work on precise desserts with multiple components: sponge or other bases, mousses and creams, inserts, glazes, decoration and final presentation.

Technical focus:

• Individual molds and assembly
• Inserts and freezing
• Glazing and unmolding
• Portion control
• Designing pastries with balanced textures
• By the End of Week 2, Students Will Understand
• How to create vegan genoise and jocund cakes for entremets
• How to replace egg-based structures in layered desserts
• How to stabilize mousses and creams without dairy or gelatin
• How to build clean, precise layers
• How to work with inserts, syrups, glazes and finishes
• How to create classical French entremets in modern plant-based form
• WEEK 3 — Travel cakes, Regional Classics, Fine cookies and Risen dough Brioche and Beignets

Expanding the Pastry Repertoire into the pastries of every day. Here are the little treats that France treats itself on a daily basis

Day 1 — Madeleines, Financiers, Cannelés & Pound Cakes

Students begin the week with small French cakes and travel cakes that require careful texture control. They are called travel cakes as they can be eaten without a plate and a fork and also have no icing . This factor makes it very important that the moistness is sufficient for a good mouthfeel.

Preparations include:

• Madeleines
• Financiers
• Cannelés
• Pound cakes

Technical focus:

• Creating tender cake textures
• Replacing eggs in small cakes
• Working with nut flours and starches
• Managing moisture and shelf life
• Creating caramelized exteriors and soft interiors
• Understanding travel cakes for boutique and commercial use

Day 2 — Flan Pâtissier, Clafoutis, Far Breton & Teurgoule

This day explores comforting and creamy French classical regional desserts, reimagined in vegan form.

Preparations include:

• Flan pâtissier
• Clafoutis
• Far Breton
• Teurgoule
• Crème brûlée

Technical focus:

• Custard-style textures without eggs or dairy
• Baked creams and starch setting
• Fruit and batter balance
• Regional flavor profiles
• Rustic desserts with refined execution

Day 3 — Fine cookies

Whether for tea-time or used to plate a dessert, fine cookies are an integral part of fine French pastry making.

Preparations include:

• Tuiles diverses ‘ colored tuile, almond tuile, dipped tuile)
• Langue au chat,
• Sablé
• Cigarettes
• Rochers coco

Day 4 - Risen Doughs: Babas, Beignets & Brioches

The week continues and accelerates with enriched yeast doughs that are not laminated but require structure, softness, fermentation and moisture control.

Students prepare:

• Babas
• Brioches
• Queen’s crown
• Kougelhopf

Technical focus:

• Vegan enriched doughs
• Yeast fermentation
• Soft crumb development
• Frying and baking techniques
• Syrup soaking for babas
• Shaping and finishing brioche-style doughs Risen Dough - Brioche Pastries
• This day delves into the decadent brioche dough which we will make into different forms

Day 5 - Pure indulgence: Fried Batter desserts,

The last day of this week, treats students with some of France’s most comforting desserts that can also be served from breakfast throughout the day.

Preparations include:

• Beignets ( filled and sugared)
• French waffles

Pain perdu ( this is the real French toast and we will practice using both the traditional baguette but also brioche as well plating with sauces and compotes to take it to a truly elegant level.)

Sauces and accompaniments will be produced also.

By the End of Week 3, Students Will Understand

• How to create small French cakes without eggs or dairy
• How to adapt custard-style regional desserts
• How to refine presentation, finishing and consistency
• How to build a broad vegan French pastry
• repertoire

This week allows students to broaden their repertoire while refining precision, presentation and finishing. The recipes are diverse, but the technical themes remain connected: structure, moisture, sweetness, texture, stability and elegance.

Week 4 - Puff Pastry,

• Raised Puff Pastry & Basic Viennoiserie
• The Technical Heart of the Program

Week 4 is devoted to one of the most demanding areas of vegan pastry: laminated and fermented doughs.

Traditional puff pastry and viennoiserie depend on gluten elasticity, butter plasticity, fermentation control and precise handling. Removing dairy butter and eggs makes this work significantly more complex. This week teaches students how to approach laminated doughs with a strong technical understanding of what must be replaced, strengthened and controlled.

Students learn the difference between classic puff pastry, raised puff pastry and how each behaves in a vegan context.

This week is a rare opportunity to study vegan lamination in depth.

Day 1 — Mille-Feuilles

Students begin with puff pastry through the iconic mille-feuille. The focus is on creating layers, crispness, lift and controlled baking.

Technical focus:

• Puff pastry formulation
• Dough hydration and rest
• Vegan butter or fat block behavior
• Folding and turning
• Baking for lift and crispness
• Cutting and assembling mille-feuilles
• Cream filling and final decoration

Day 2 — King’s Galettes & Vol-au-Vent

This day explores puff pastry in two different forms: the festive King’s Galette and savory or elegant vol-au-vent cases.

Students learn how laminated dough behaves in filled, sealed and shaped applications.

Technical focus:

• Circular puff pastry shaping
• Frangipane-style fillings
• Sealing and scoring
• Controlling expansion in the oven
• Creating vol-au-vent shapes
• Using puff pastry for sweet and savory professional applications

Day 3 — Vegan Croissants

Croissants are among the most challenging pastries to recreate without dairy or eggs. This day is dedicated to understanding laminated yeast dough: structure, elasticity, fat distribution, fermentation and baking.

Technical focus:

• Raised laminated dough formulation
• Creating extensibility
• Managing fermentation
• Vegan butter alternatives
• Rolling, folding and shaping
• Proofing without collapse
• Baking for crisp exterior and tender interior
• Evaluating lamination, crumb and flavor

Day 4 — Pains au Chocolat & Pains aux Raisins

Students continue their work with raised laminated dough by preparing two essential viennoiseries: pains au chocolat and pains aux raisins.

Technical focus:

• Shaping rectangular viennoiserie
• Chocolate placement and structure
• Pastry cream or filling for pains aux raisins
• Rolling and slicing
• Proofing and baking
• Finishing with glaze or syrup
• Comparing different viennoiserie shapes and textures

Day 5 — Advanced Raised Puff Pastry Treatment

The world of raised puff pastry has developed in the last ten years into an increasingly sophisticated palette of pastries. Today will be dedicated to bi-color croissant and molded puff pastry pastries

By the End of Week 4, Students Will Understand

• How laminated dough differs from other wheat-based dough
• How to build structure, extensibility and lift
• How to manage vegan fat blocks for lamination
• How to control fermentation in vegan doughs
• How to prepare puff pastry, raised puff pastry and enriched doughs

How to make mille-feuilles, galettes, vol-au-vent, croissants, pains au chocolat, pains aux raisins, babas, beignets and brioches

How to evaluate texture, layering, crumb, crispness and flavor professionally

What Students Will Master Technically

By the end of the the first two two-week program, students will have studied and practiced:

• Vegan Pastry Technique
• Egg replacement strategies
• Dairy-free creams
• Plant-based whipped textures
• Vegan butter and fat alternatives
• Gelatin-free setting
• Aeration without eggs
• Stable mousses and fillings
• Specificities of Basic ingredients
• French Pastry Foundations
• Pastry creams
• Mousselines
• Diplomates
• Curds
• Frangipane
• Chantilly-style creams
• Sauces
• Compotes
• Tart doughs
• Ganaches
• Mousses
• Gelées
• Glazes
• Using fruits and nuts
• Entremets & Boutique Pastries
• Sponge cakes
• Joconde-style bases
• Inserts
• Syrups
• Layering
• Assembly
• Glazing
• Unmolding
• Clean slicing
• Individual entremets
• Laminated & Fermented Doughs
• Puff pastry
• Raised puff pastry
• Croissants
• Pains au chocolat
• Pains aux raisins
• Babas
• Beignets
• Brioches
• Fermentation control
• Lamination analysis
• Finishing & Presentation
• Decoration
• Texture contrast
• Plating and finishing
• Boutique pastry presentation
• Portioning
• Professional evaluation of final products
• Part III

WEEK 5 —Mastering Aquafaba and other egg-replacers

This week allows students to broaden their repertoire while refining precision, presentation and finishing. The recipes are diverse, but the technical themes remain connected: structure, moisture, sweetness, texture, stability and elegance.

Students will gain much confidence by mastering the replacement for egg white in French pastry making: delicate meringue work, macarons , pavlova and more.

Day 1 — Meringues & Pavlova

Meringue work is essential in vegan pastry because it teaches aeration, stability, drying, sugar balance and humidity control.

Students prepare:

• Vegan meringues
• Pavlova
• Cream, chocolate and fruit finishes

Technical focus:

• Plant-based foams
• Sugar structure and stability
• Drying and baking
• Crisp exterior and soft interior
• Humidity management
• Decorating with cream, fruit and sauces
• Day 2 - Meringue in entremets and desserts: the « Success » and the Île flottante
• Today’s ambitious class will create a meringue based cake and an entremets that begins with delicate Lady fingers

Student’s will prepare:

• Le Succès
• Mont Blanc
• Sauces and creams practice

Day 3 - Aquafaba in 2 famous Lady Finger based desserts

Students will prepare:

• Lady Fingers
• Charlotte two versions
• Deux entremets

Day 4 — Macarons I

Macarons are one of the most sought-after and technically demanding pastries in vegan and gluten-free pastry. Students learn how to approach macarons with precision and patience.

Students will prepare:

• Ganache and other fillings
• Macaron shells

Technical focus:

• Vegan macaron shells
• Almond flour and sugar balance
• Plant-based meringue behavior
• Macaronage technique
• Piping and resting
• Baking and shell development
• Evaluating feet, texture, shine and consistency

Day 5 —Macarons II

Today will see the finishing of the fillings, the preparation of the shell duos; the filling of the shells and any decor decided upon.

Student’s will prepare:

• final fillings
• mounted macarons
• small macaron tower or wreath
• By the End of Week 5, Students Will Understand
• How to work with vegan meringues and pavlovas
• How to produce vegan macarons
• How to approach chocolate ganache and fillings for meringue-based pastries
• How to refine presentation, finishing and consistency
• How to store sugar-laden pastry for conservation efficiency
• WEEK 6 - Advanced Entremêts and Tarts

This class takes the student into the creation of sophisticated entremets, petit fours and advanced tarts. Students will be required, with assistance, to recreate some of the more contemporary versions of the classics! Students will be required to make a very sophisticated and contemporary version of 5-7 pastries done in the first few weeks by veganizing the creations of famous French pastry chefs. The choice of which pastries will be done by each student will be decided ahead of class and the recipes partially prepared in advance. This exercise requires the student to use the knowledge they have attained during the first five weeks about individual pastries and about vegan transformation and substitution. Each pastry will be done with accompanying decorations and sauces to perfect the plating of said pastry after completion.

Day 1: Two tarts

Day 2: A sophisticated Fraisier and/or Foret Noire

Day 3: A sophisticated Mont Blanc and Pavlova or Succès

Day 4: An elaborate chocolate based entremet

Day 5: An elaborate fruit-based entreat

• Week Seven - CHOUX PASTRY

This week of study challenges students with the singularly most difficult pastry for vegan chefs - Choux Pastry. The science behind making this type of dough will be thoroughly studied. During this intensive week, we will make choux balls, profiterole, eclairs, Paris Brest pastries, the iconic Saint Honoré pastry and to finish a Choux tower.

Day 1 - The theory and practice of vegan choux pastry dough

Students will prepare:

• Choux balls with or without craquelin
• Cream fillings
• Profiterolles pastry

Day 2. Eclairs- Big and small, filled and glazed

Day 3 - Paris-Brest pastry

• Saint Honoré - the classic version

Day 4. Saint Honoré - a contemporary version

Day 5 A decorated choux tower

• WEEK 8 Chocolate, ice cream and nuts &Fruits

The final week completes the program with a rich and diverse variety of topics from chocolate work and a visit to a chocolate museum and workshop to fruits and nuts fillings and a day of exploring ice-cream cakes. Students are introduced to chocolate work, fillings, molding and finishing, while the museum visit offers historical, cultural and professional context and the ice-cream cakes give a sophisticated recipe for any festive event.

Day 1 - Advanced use of Fruits and nuts in pastry and chocolate desserts

Day 2 Chocolate: an introduction to what chocolate is, how it can be used, tempering, dipping, moulding spheres ; chocolate dipped fruit ; molded and decorated chocolate bars; truffles and Rochers

Day 3 Advanced chocolate - Moulded and filled chocolate; chocolate decorations

Day 4 Ice cream and sorbets; Molded ice creams

Day 5 Exam and visit to chocolate museum

Technical focus:

• Vegan chocolate fillings
• Ganaches and praliné-style centers
• Molding and finishing
• Texture and shelf-life considerations
• Understanding chocolate as part of the French pastry tradition
• Cultural and historical context through the museum visit
• Why This Program Is Unique
• 1. It Combines Three Specializations Rarely Taught Together

Many programs teach French pastry. Some teach the vegan pastry foundation. Some teach detailed knowledge of ingredients and the science , some teach the classics. Very few teach all three together in a coherent professional curriculum.

This program is built specifically around the challenge of creating French pastry that is both vegan, professional and visually enticing.

2. It Is Based on Technique, Not Just Recipes

Students learn the logic behind the recipes: structure, moisture, aeration, emulsification, setting, lamination, fermentation and finishing.

This allows them to adapt, troubleshoot and create their own pastries after the program.

3. It Respects the Elegance of French Pastry

The goal is not to make desserts that simply “work” animal products. The goal is to create pastries that are refined, beautiful and pleasurable.

Taste, texture, aroma, appearance and mouthfeel remain central.

4. It Gives Students a Commercially Valuable Skill

Restaurants, hotels, cafés, caterers and pastry shops increasingly need desserts that can serve clients with different dietary needs. A professional who can produce excellent vegan French pastry has a rare and useful skill.

5. It Is Taught from a Pioneer’s Perspective

This program comes from years of experience in vegan gastronomy, professional pastry teaching and the development of plant-based French pastry before it became fashionable.

The training is rooted in conviction, craft and real-world practice.

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